


The (True) Beheading of Shuten-douji

by SpookySusie



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcohol, Beheading, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Drugging, F/F, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Memoir, Sort Of, Youkai, Yôkai, from shuten's perspective, retelling of the shuten-douji myth, sake, some dark shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 05:46:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16948146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookySusie/pseuds/SpookySusie
Summary: Written on the Lunar anniversary of Shuten-douji's death, here lies the retelling of the Massacre of Ooeyama, according to Shuten-douji herself.





	The (True) Beheading of Shuten-douji

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/theshutendouji/)   
>  [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/shu-ten)   
>  [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/pg/theshutendouji/)   
>  [Other Social Media Masterlist](shuten-douji.carrd.co)   
>  [Further Reading/Commissiony Stuff](shutendoujiwriting.carrd.co)   
>  [Join My Discord Server](https://discord.gg/U5RwYNm)

Summers in Greater Heian-Kyou, even in the mountains, were intensely hot and humid. The air was physically  _sticky_  to the point there wasn’t much to do. So like many things during the summers, this day started with a summer nap.

Soon after I fell asleep, though, I awoke to voices. I recognized one of them–Kintarou, an oni-raised human boy who sometimes stayed with us, so I tried to watch from my window what was going on.

Tora was guarding the gates at the time and seemed rather dubious with whatever Kintarou and his friends were saying. I couldn’t make out what it was, though.

My doors slid open then, and my (now ex) wife, Ibaraki, came in. She had an odd look on her face–smug, almost? But when wasn’t she smug, really?

“Does the great oni queen awaken, finally?” she asked wryly, tucking her hands in her sleeves.

I rolled my eyes but otherwise ignored her. “What do they want?”

“According to your  _wonderful_ subordinate, Toraguma-douji, they’re yamabushi looking for shelter. There’s a storm coming tonight.”

The sky was cloudy and an odd purple, so even though I wasn’t aware–at the time–of their ways of weather calendars and whatnot, I agreed that this seemed plausible.

“Your…friend is here. Kintarou. But he’s older now. He has a gift for you.”

With the idea alone of Kintarou giving me a gift, I wasn’t suspicious, but it was Ibaraki’s words that stuck like poisoned honey to my throat, as though she was forcefeeding it to me. But whenever the two of us interacted, it felt that way, so I swallowed my alarm with the sickly sweetness and came downstairs and outside to the gates.

“Kintarou!” I exclaimed. “It’s been a long time.”

He was taller than me, now; I was eye-level with his chest, and my horns extended a bit beyond his bulky shoulders. He had facial hair now, which was odd, because the Kintarou I remembered was a little more than a boy.

He gave me a bow and a grin that didn’t reach his eyes but still had the same pointy teeth I remembered. “Shuten-sama. You look beautiful as ever.”

I waved him off. “You got taller.”

He smirked. “Did you get shorter?”

A bump of fists. A hug. And something was thrusted into my arms.

“The yamabushi made this sake special for you. Seems like something you’d like.”

I bowed my thanks. “You’re too kind. Seems like the humans have softened you up.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I suppose. Found these guys on my travels and thought, since you’re nearby, you’d be good shelter for them for the storm.”

“I haven’t heard anything about a storm,” Tora said, crossing her arms around her thin kanabou. A scowl painted on her face.

“Look at the sky,” one of the yamabushi said. “Feel the wind.”

“There ain’t any wind,” Tora retorted, “just humidity.”

“Tora, back off,” I said. “My friend Kintarou–”

“It’s Kintoki, now,” he corrected. “I’m an adult.”

I choked on my saliva. “ _Kintoki_.”

He flushed as red as my monstrous form. “Yes?”

“You know  _toki_  means  _testicles_ in the oni language, yes?”

His skin darkened a deeper red. “Yes.”

“So your name is literally  _golden balls_.”

“Hey! It doesn’t mean that in Japanese! And I’ll have you know my name was given–” He cleared his throat. “It was given to me when I reached manhood.”

“When your golden balls dropped.”

He punched me in the arm. Tora flinched to protect me, but I waved her off with one hand and punched him back, making him stagger a bit.

Now, his smile reached his eyes. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You, too. Now bring your friends. We’ll have a feast for everyone.”

Tora looked at me with wide-eyes as I turned around and let them inside. “Are you sure about this, Shuten-douji?”

“The golden ball boy is trustworthy. Besides, you gotta help me drink this sake!”

In hindsight, I realized Kintoki tensed a bit, but at the time, I thought it was because he saw Ibaraki approach us. They never got along, even less so than Ibaraki and me.

Regardless, she joined my side, her face still smug. “You’re going to trust these yamabushi?”

“Why not? Kintoki was like a son to me. I’m sure his friends are lovely.”

She laughed, a bitter, cutting sound. “Your faith in your friends will surely lead to your demise someday. This is why you need a wife like me to keep an eye on you and your poor impulse control.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her, ignoring the ringing in my ears. Ibaraki never failed to get under my skin. “Did you come here just to be rude and hear your own grating voice, or do you have a point to what you’re saying?”

She pursed her lips and took the gourd of sake from me. “Let me, then, be a dutiful wife to you and serve the feast to our guests, shall I? I’ll speak no more.”

The yamabushi looked uncomfortably at us as Ibaraki made her way to the kitchens.

“Ignore her,” I said, trying to keep my voice cheerful. “She’s just jealous because she ain’t got any friends.”

Kintoki laughed, and his yamabushi companions emitted a few uncomfortable chuckles.

I led the group to the dining hall, with all the low, long tables the oni of my community shared. Most of the oni were in their own home families, trying to stay cool in the awful, muggy heat, so only my Four Generals and their families were in my house at the time.

“Stay here and have refreshments! I’ll get us some snacks while we wait for our dinner.”

“What’s for dinner?” One of the yamabushi asked.

“Deer! Some of our leftover rice noodles, too. And this neat curry mix that my lover, Hoshiguma-douji, makes.”

“Lover?” he asked. “Not your wife?”

I scrunched my eyebrows. “Please. Don’t tell me you pretend to love your wife.” For good measure, I called out, “Hey Ibaraki, do you love me?”

She responded instantly. “I hate you more than I hate life itself!”

“Same to you, my love!” I called back.

“Don’t ever call me that again!”

I turned back to the yamabushi. “See? She fucking hates me. We’re married for politics, like most people, unfortunately. But we have our own lovers, and Hoshiguma-douji is mine. We’ve been together since childhood, and she’s the one making the deer. Speaking of which, I’m gonna go check on her!”

As I made my way to the kitchens, one of the women who lived with me–a human girl I had saved from the Capitol–half-ran to me. “How should I entertain them?”

I gave her a quizzical look. “Entertain them?”

“We can’t just leave them there.” She looked panicked, for some reason.

I tilted my head. “Are you suspicious of them?”

“I recognize one of them.”

“Kintarou? I mean, Kintoki?”

“No. I mean, yes, him, but one of the yamabushi looks familiar.” She chewed her lip. “I think the emperor has caught on to what you’re doing.”

At this point, I felt Hoshi approach me from behind, her hands on my shoulders. “What’s going on? It’s been a while since I’ve been told to prepare so much deer.”

“We have guests,” I said, but my voice wavered. “Keep an eye on them, Kiyomi. Let me know if you see anything suspicious.”

She lifted her eyes to Hoshi and all of her heighted glory. She was one of the tallest of our clan, after all. “Can you come with me?”

“Sure, of course, yeah. Why?”

“I’ll explain on the way.” And Kiyomi grabbed her hand and tugged her along.

I was left with Ibaraki and the kitchens.

“You’re an idiot,” she said as she stirred our noodles. “An idiot given the power over an entire mountain.”

“An idiot who led armies,” I said, turning over the deer meat Hoshi had started.

Ibaraki shrugged. “Any idiot with a loud enough voice can do that. It doesn’t make you special.”

“It seems to, considering that I’m the leader.”

“As am I.”

“Through marriage.”

She snorted. “You’re weak, Shuten.” She didn’t even bother to use an honorific. “You’re weak and you’re about to die.”

My stomach dropped, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of showing her fear. “You sure about that?”

She smirked. “Let’s just see how this night goes, yes? I’ll start serving the sake.”

I sighed and continued the cooking on my own, though my stomach churned so much I was hardly hungry.

Right when the food was about done, Hoshi returned to the kitchen with Kiyomi.

“We haven’t seen anything suspicious,” Hoshi said, resting her head atop mine.

I cut into one of the pieces of deer meat as thunder rumbled in the distance.

“The storm begins,” Kiyomi said, staring up at the ceiling.”I guess they weren’t lying.”

“It isn’t stopping Ibaraki from being cryptic as fuck, though. She keeps saying I’m impulsive and going to die.”

“We’re all going to die,” Hoshi replied, stealing a bite of deer and giving me a peck on the nose. “And yeah, you’re impulsive as fuck. How is knowing that today any different than any other day?”

Like always, Hoshi was right, and my stomach stopped churning.

“Everyone’s so paranoid. Probably because of the storm.” Hoshi rubbed my shoulders. “Let’s just have fun with our guests, yeah?”

I gave her a smile. “Yeah. Let’s.”

As we left with arms full of food for ourselves and our guests, Hoshi added, “Don’t let her get to you, man. She just says things to piss you off.”

“What’s the bitch doing now?”

Tora had approached us, checking out of her guard shift.

I was about to reply when I was interrupted by thunder rattling the house, causing Kiyomi to drop one of the bowls of rice on Tora. I half-expected Tora to snap, as her moods were rather unpredictable, but she just laughed.

“Go get our guests another bowl, Kiyomi, yeah?”

She gave Tora a bow and scampered to her feet.

When she was gone, Tora said, “I’m not letting the human around them.”

Hoshi frowned. “Ibara-gen got to you, too?”

 _Gen_. The honorific of hatred.

“No, Hoshi-xa. Logic got to me.” Tora studied my face. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Anything funny happens with the yamabushi, and heads will roll.”

 _Xa._  Sisterhood.

“I would expect as much from you, Tora-xa.”

She bowed and sat seiza at her place at the table.

The dinner went deep into the night, with songs from the human areas of Heian-Kyou, drink, and the delicious food we prepared. We swapped stories of the pasts, of politics, of the strange thunderstorm and heavy rains hammering the windows.

But at the same time, I couldn’t tell you a single conversation. I couldn’t describe the yamabushis’ faces. I couldn’t even describe what the sake tasted like. I’ve had sake inspired from this one since then, of course, but the original had no words.

The moment of my poisoning couldn’t be described.

But I will try.

The dizziness came first, but that was to be expected. I was (and am) a lightweight, so though I didn’t drink much of the sake Kintoki brought, it affected me immediately, and a bit harder than I expected.

The nausea came next, though it only seemed to affect me. Hoshi escorted me to the bathroom and rubbed my back as I retched.

“Food poisoning?” I asked hoarsely. I had never heard my voice so slurred before.

“I’d be sick, too,” she reassured me. “Though…damn, what was that sake Kintoki gave us? Strongest shit I’ve ever had.”

I wiped my mouth and stared incredulously at Hoshi. Hoshi was the biggest heavyweight I knew. She never got drunk.

“Maybe I had a bit much,” I decided.

The dizziness hit tenfold at that point, and I sunk to my knees.

Hoshi caught me by the elbows. “Let’s, uh. Lay you down for a bit?”

“Yeah.” I was losing sensation in my limbs.

“I’ll keep the guests entertained,” Hoshi said with a yawn.

I remember, vaguely, being scooped in Hoshi’s arms and carried to my room. I could hear her have a conversation with Tora and the twins, Kanaka and Kira, but it sounded far away, as though I were listening from several rooms away.

“Is Shuten-douji okay?”

“Just had a bit much to drink. She got sick.” Hoshi hugged me close. “I’m gonna tuck her in.”

“I’ll guard her door,” Tora said. “The three of you can keep an eye on the yamabushi.”

“Are you really still suspicious of them?”

“Yes. And you should be, too. You’re yawning.”

“I’m only a bit tipsy.”

“I know, but that’s surprising, even for you. Something’s  _wrong_.”

“I agree,” one of the twins–probably Kanaka–piped up. “We need to stay vigilant.

“Who’s watching them now?” the other twin asked.

“Shit. Go see what they’re doing, Kira-xa.”

I heard the pattering of her feet on the hardwood, and felt Hoshi’s steps continue. And then, I felt nothing.

For a while, I swam in the milky, dark void.

And then I heard my door opening.

I opened one eye. Colors swam and blended, as did faces. I was surrounded.

I felt something on my head, something rest against my neck.

I blinked, trying to diffuse the blur, but still couldn’t focus. “What are you…”

“My name is Minamoto no Raikou, and in the name of the Emperor, I’ve come to take your life.”

I squirmed, but my wrists and ankles were bound. Whatever was resting on my head–a helmet?–rendered me weak.

And I still couldn’t see correctly.

“Why?” I asked, my voice crackling.

“You can’t just take people’s women. You’re a terrible monster, and for the safety of Heian-Kyou, you must be eliminated. But first…” I felt his blade lower, and a breeze hit my legs. “Might as well have some fun. This poison lasts for a while, after all.”

I struggled as he pushed himself into me, but his blade returned to my neck. With his other hand, he silenced my screams as he broke me.

As he thrust, I remembered the sake.

Kintoki, my trusted friend, was behind this.

And he had poisoned me with the sacred drink of my culture.

Once Raikou finished, my helmet slipped a bit, and I was able to free my wrists. I pushed him off of me.

“You lied,” I said, trying to sound strong, but my voice coming out like a crying child instead.

“Well, I can’t simply fight your kind head-on like your buddy Kintoki.”

I shoved him off of me, but in a swift motion, the helmet was back on, and my strength left my limbs. But at least I was free. A weak fighter was better than none at all.

“Where is Kintoki?”

Raikou chuckled. “What, you want your revenge on his betrayal? He’s human, Shuten-douji. He’ll never side with your disgusting people.”

“We’re just people, and so are all of those women.” Stumbling, I managed to find my kanabou. If I hit his sword correctly, I figured I could break it, but I lost all my oni strength. All that was left was the strength of simple woman. “I was saving them.”

“You can’t save property. But I can use your property to taunt you. Kintoki!”

The door opened, and Kintoki was holding a half-conscious Hoshi, tantou at her throat.

“Drop your weapon,” Raikou commanded, his voice a steely calm, “or we’ll kill your beloved. We were gonna use Ibaraki, but…well, she put up quite the fight.” Raikou tossed something in front of me.

An arm.

Ibaraki’s arm.

As much as I hated her, I was still concerned. “Where is she?”

“Did you kill her, Kintoki?”

Kintoki shook his head. “She jumped off of the mountain.”

Raikou shrugged. “She’s long dead, then. And the rest of your pawns are subdued. Now, drop your weapon, or we’ll slit her throat.”

I clenched my kanabou harder. “Never.” And I swung.

I knew Hoshi could subdue Kintoki. I’d seen her get out of holds thousands of times. And I was right; with a thud, I knew she had executed her flawless over-the-shoulder throw.

With a glance, I saw that Hoshi’s neck was cut a bit, but she wasn’t bleeding much. And she had Kintoki pinned.

“How dare you betray us!” Hoshi screamed. She was tapping into her other form, now, her normally-pale skin replaced with vibrant red-orange.

“The capitol was always right about your people!” Kintoki shouted, drawing a far longer sword than the simple dagger he had. “You’ve been banding together with your lover and these other people to be stealing women from the capitol!”

“We’re saving them from abu–ugh!”

Raikou had landed his first strike on me. It was so hard to focus on combat. I tried to simply focus on removing my helmet so I could tap into my strength.

The combat itself was a blur. Maybe it was the helmet, or possibly it was the poisoned sake. But landing a swing at all was almost impossible, as though I were a child just learning to a fight.

But I remember when Raikou’s sword landed on my throat.

And for a long time, I remember nothing more.


End file.
